I still don't own Chuck.
I understand that there isn't a review function on this site. But I would still appreciate your comments. The worst thing for an author is silence. You can't tell if you're connecting with your readers, if they're getting where you think the story is going or not. And those comments don't have to be praise. Of course, I'd be lying if I tried to say that I don't enjoy the praise. But I actually learn more from the critical comments. Just as long as you're respectful and allow me to respond, you can say anything.
Pampered
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Diane Beckman slumped in her office chair for a moment to try and gain a little perspective. To say that she wasn't having a good day didn't come close to reality. After all, losing a nuclear weapon was sort of a big deal to these guys. She had just gotten back to her office after a very thorough dressing down in the White House Situation Room by the President… in front of the Joint Chiefs and most of his Cabinet. That was a lot of fun.
At least it was a NATO base that had lost the weapon. Politically that gave the President a little cover. They could just play dumb. But it was painfully obvious to everyone in the Situation Room what had just happened. Only an Intersect 2.0 could have possibly pulled off walking into a military base, silently killing thirty-six armed guards by hand, navigating through six fortified checkpoints, entering fourteen different correct sixteen character codes on automated control panels,… and walked back out undetected with a twenty kiloton nuclear weapon under his arm. And since there were only two Intersect 2.0's in the entire world, and one was more or less accounted for, it didn't take much math to figure out who they were dealing with.
Naturally, the first priority was keeping some major city, probably New York or Washington, from getting a very good look at a hundred thousand degree flash of light following by a very tall mushroom cloud. But when the discussion turned to how to exactly prevent that, everyone in the Situation Room could only look at each other. After all, it was the perfect terrorist situation. If the bomb was deployed, it would be untraceable. Normal protocol would be to hold the country that produced it responsible... and bomb it back into the Stone Age. But this was one of theirs. The plutonium came from a reactor in New Jersey. And the simple fact remained that they had no idea where the weapon currently was. It had already been missing for almost a full day. By now it could literally be in the trunk of almost any car in the world.
Not only that, they really couldn't do much to try and find it without letting people know that there was an unaccounted for nuclear weapon someplace. That would clearly panic everybody in the entire free world. The NATO leaders had decided to try and keep a lid on this for as long as possible and pray for a happy ending. The President even called the Russian Premier personally. And even though it was no secret that they really didn't like each other much, the Premier was polite and cordial. But he also was clearly not about to make this his problem. There was no evidence of Russian involvement. Why would anyone suspect any? When the President didn't have a good answer the call quickly ended.
Suddenly a government sponsored project to create an unstoppable superman seemed like much less of a good idea than it had a month ago. But it was too late for that. Intersect 2.0 had been unleashed on the world. Putting that genie back in the bottle wasn't going to be easy.
There was a lot of discussion about worst case scenarios. It was likely that Larkin knew the missile launch codes. And it would take over forty-eight hours to change them all. The Secretary of Defense was immediately excused from the meeting and dispatched to begin that process. The President ordered all strategic forces to Def Con III until the changes were complete. That act alone would generate some questions that they would have to spend some time and energy explaining away.
It had been a morning full of tense, uncomfortable questions. Where was Bryce Larkin currently? What did he know? Why would he help Volkoff? Were they even positive that Volkoff was responsible? Could Larkin possibly simply be rogue on his own? Could he have been psychologically affected by the Intersect? Did that mean that Bartowski was also a potential threat? Should they bring him in? Would that start a war with him, and his bad-ass wife too? What was Volkoff's next objective? How could they stop him? Could they negotiate with him? The honest truth was that she didn't have the answer to any of those questions. So her next order from the President was short and to the point.
Go find some… quickly.
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Joan Bartowski hadn't ever required a lot of sleep. It was a real blessing, one of those things that came in mighty handy in school when it was time to cram for exams. Of course Joan really never had to cram for exams. It was what qualified her to be every bit as much of a nerd as her new step-son claimed to be. If she ever did need to study, and she never did, the complete lack of any social life gave her plenty of time. She actually studied more because it was fun than because it was necessary.
But she had to admit, currently the bed felt pretty darn good. They had stayed up late playing poker. The shots of tequila, too numerous to count, that Laura seemingly got a thrill watching her drink didn't help. Then she stayed up even later with her new husband collecting her side bet winnings. There was certainly no complaint there, from either of them really. Perhaps it was aided partially by the tequila, but Steven had been in rare form last night paying off his bet late into the night. So the sound of her phone buzzing this early in the morning was pretty annoying, even to her.
She hadn't even set the phone back on the nightstand before she heard Steven's sleepy voice. "Who was that?"
"Beckman," Joan said as she climbed back into bed. "You were right about Bryce. He broke into a NATO base and stole a nuclear weapon. Naturally, they're freaked out about it."
Steven was suddenly alert. "What did she want you to do about it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Joan said sadly. "She's just desperate. She was just looking for some intel on why Bryce would willingly work for Volkoff. I referred her to the Intersect Team Psych group. I think that the President is all over her to make this problem go away for him."
"I'm sure that he is," Steven said as he climbed out of bed and opened up his laptop. "Anything else?"
"She was asking about Chuck," Joan admitted. "They're concerned that if the Intersect is making Bryce go insane maybe…"
"Damn," Steven muttered. "I was afraid of that. We're going to have to tell Sarah… from a safe distance. Chuck needs to get out of here as soon as possible before they decide that he needs to be in a bunker someplace. What the morons don't get is that Volkoff would never actually deploy a nuclear weapon."
"Are you sure?" Joan asked. "He seems pretty ruthless."
"He's totally ruthless," Steven said with a smile. "He would do it in a second just for fun if he thought that he could get away with it. But this is simply a feint, a mind fuck. He's trying to keep their attention focused on this perceived threat while he goes after his main objective. He's too smart for anything else. His biggest protection over the years has been that he's protected by the second most powerful nation in the world. The only way to get to him would be to declare war on Russia. They would need a very, very good reason to do that."
"Like New York being destroyed," Joan finished his thought.
"Exactly," Steven said. "He knows that if he pushes too hard, he'll force them into war. And right now, he'd lose that war. He'd never risk it, until…"
It was odd. They were talking about a nightmare scenario, using nuclear weapons and the very real possibility of the start of World War III. But Joan found that she was actually enjoying herself. It was sort of like a really challenging Chess match. "Until what?" she asked expectantly.
Steven ignored her question. "Do me a favor," he said. "I have to review this latest intercept data. Go talk to Major Casey. Tell him that we have to be in Washington today very covertly. I'm sure he can call in a favor and make that happen. Then ask him to round Chuck and Sarah up. We need to get them off the grid ASAP."
When Joan headed for the door, Steven stopped her. "I know I said ASAP," he said. "But you might want to take thirty seconds and put some clothes on first. He might not be able to concentrate on what you're saying. Chuck will end up in a bunker. You'll have to explain to Sarah why. And we'll end up in WashingtonState. Although I hear that Seattle is very lovely."
Joan ignored his attempt at humor. "I'll make you a deal," she said firmly with her hands on her hips. "I'll put some clothes on if you start treating me like a partner and answer my fucking question. Otherwise the Major gets an eyeful. It would serve Laura right for pushing her barely covered tits in your face all last night anyway. Volkoff isn't the only one who can play mind fuck. Until what?"
Steven smiled at his brilliant wife. He fully recognized that she was only half teasing. "You're actually very good at poker," he said. "I'm almost sure that you're bluffing. But I'm not sure enough to risk it. So I'll fold. Someday when things calm down we'll have to take a mini vacation to Vegas and let you win us some money. Besides, I never ever want you to feel like you're not my partner. I'm very sorry if that's how I sounded. I'm just not used to having one. Just so you know, I'll always answer any question you ever have, even the uncomfortable ones. You may just have to remind me sometimes. Until what? Volkoff is a history buff. He knows that you never start a war unless you're sure that you're going to win."
"That's his main objective."
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Mary Bartowski snuggled against Alexei's chest. It was one of those rare quiet times when his favorite activity, world domination, or for that matter even his apparent second favorite activity, Mary domination, wasn't the center of attention. It was nice.
Okay, so Mary wouldn't even try and claim that she didn't love the dizzyingly rapid pace of her life. She wouldn't even try and deny that she loved being totally under the control of the most powerful man in the world. The sex was… exciting. It kept her on her toes. Well it also kept her on her back a fair amount of the time… and on her knees… and sometimes on the kitchen table… and, well, you get the idea. And all of his wild mind games and new scenarios to constantly push the envelope was fun and exciting, but it was also nice to have a tender moment every once in a while. "Tell me something," she finally said sleepily. "Why Beckman? Aren't we taking a chance kidnapping the sitting director of the NSA?"
"We need her," Volkoff said softly. "Bryce has been instructed to make sure she is taken quietly. That will take even him and Bowles a few days. Then…"
"Why Bowles?" Mary interrupted with a grumble. "Alexei, you know that I hate that bitch."
"I know," Volkoff said. "With the end of Fulcrum, she's worthless. She may even get in his way a little. But I know that you don't like her. So I got rid of her for a while."
Mary snuggled into him. "I'm so sorry," she said. "I'm being rude to you. And here you are being so sweet. Please finish your thought before I formally apologize."
Volkoff grinned. "They may suspect that we have Beckman, but thanks to our new Intersect friend, they will have no evidence. And she is going to lead us to your husband."
That got Mary to lift her head in surprise and annoyance… well she hid the annoyance. Alexei never failed to tease her by calling Steven her husband. And she never failed to correct him. "Ex husband," she said. "But how would Beckman help? Surely Beckman is the last person in the world who would know where Orion is."
"That's true," Volkoff said. "The only people who might know where he is, or can find out, are his children."
Mary paused for a long moment. "I thought that you made a deal with them," she finally said.
"Of course I did," Volkoff said with a laugh. "Come, my love. You know that I would never go back on my word. As long as they keep their end of our deal, Eleanor and Charles are off limits. But if they came to us willingly, that would be different, right?"
"Right," Mary agreed tentatively. "That would be different. So how does Beckman get them to come to us?"
"Charles has a new wife," Volkoff said. "Your new daughter in law. It seems that he picked a winner. Agent Walker is the number one operative in all of the land. And from the information that you gained from Bryce Larkin before you wiped his memories, it seems that the good General is her mentor. They have something of a mother/daughter relationship. She would do anything to save her."
Mary could read the excitement in his voice. "She's very beautiful," she said tentatively. "What do you have in mind?"
Alexei laughed. "Nothing like that," he said while still laughing. "She's sort of my daughter-in-law. Even I have some morals. Besides, I'll bet that the beautiful Agent Walker has grown somewhat weary of old, horny, evil men constantly lusting after her. I imagine that it's pretty much a constant theme for her. But having said that, you know how much I enjoy bending people to my will. She would be very valuable if she was properly motivated. Bryce and Joey's story matched up. She is desperately in love with him. That's something we understand, something we can use against her. Still, she's going to be difficult to get fully on board. I'm going to very much enjoy the challenge of breaking her."
Mary made no effort to hide her relief. Jealousy wasn't an emotion that she was allowed very often. So she took full advantage when he gave her the chance to express some. "So you're connecting the dots," she said with something of her own laugh. "Beckman to Walker to Charles to…"
"Orion," Volkoff finished for her.
"And total victory."
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"You really didn't have to moan like that," Chuck said. "I wasn't expecting it. I don't want you to force anything just for my ego."
"Good morning to you too," Sarah said with a laugh as she lifted her head up from her favorite position to plant a quick kiss on his lips. Well, she originally planned on it being quick anyway. It didn't exactly work out that way. "I told you that I would gladly stroke your ego, among other things. But in this case I wasn't forcing anything. The truth is that for the past few weeks I had been forcing myself to keep quiet. Don't ask me why. I don't have a good answer. It seems silly now."
"I think that I do," Chuck said as he stretched his arms over his head and yawned. "And I appreciate the trust… and the gesture. I'll bet the folks down the hall appreciated it as well."
Sarah slapped his chest playfully. "It wasn't a gesture," she insisted, still giggling. "It was more like a grateful wife telling her husband that whatever he's doing down there, he should keep doing it. It is definitely working. When are you going to tell me where you learned to do that so expertly anyway? And as far as the folks down the hall, I've heard Laura moaning a time or two in the past myself. So I don't think they have any complaint coming."
That got Chuck joining her laughing. "Like I had a choice," he said. "My head is still a little sore where you had your hands buried in my hair. Your fingers are surprisingly strong."
"Are you expecting an apology for that?" Sarah asked still giggling. "Okay, I'm sorry that in the throes of one of the most powerful orgasms of my life that I pulled your hair a little. You can get even tonight by pulling my hair while I'm down there delivering you hopefully one of the most powerful orgasms of your life." Then she got more serious. "As long as I'm apologizing for things, I want to formally apologize for last night. I honestly thought that I was doing something nice for you. Look, every man I've ever known would have jumped at what I was offering. I thought that you would want it too, that you were just too shy to ask. I didn't stop and think that one of the main reasons why I love you so desperately is because you're not like those other men. In my defense, I'd like to say that I love, love, love being married to you. I was miserable before I met you. The giddiness makes me a little lightheaded sometimes and I do stupid things. I could never imagine going back to that joyless existence. So I'm really trying to be what you need."
"You don't have anything to apologize for," Chuck sighed. "I overreacted. And for the record, I was just as miserable. Quit trying so hard. Let's relax and enjoy it more."
"You didn't overreact," Sarah said. "I keep doing these stupid, insensitive things to you. There is no sense in trying to sugar coat that. You have every right to be pissed."
"Listen to me," Chuck said softly but firmly. "Okay, so you make some mistakes."
"Lots of mistakes," Sarah interrupted with a sigh. "I'm totally inadequate."
"Okay, so you maybe make lots of mistakes," Chuck conceded with a grin. "But I need you to hear me here. Calling yourself inadequate is pure stupid. I won't stand for it. I'm going to call you on it every time. I'm going to keep saying this until it sinks in. I'm the luckiest bastard in the world. Nobody deserves to be loved as fiercely as I'm loved. Sometimes it's even a little overwhelming. But it's always wonderful. It totally trumps whatever mistakes you make, especially when you're genuinely trying to do something that you think I would enjoy. I'm the one who should be sorry. I should have recognized what you were feeling and handled it another way. Instead I got mad and pouted about it, like I was ten."
"You're cute when you're pouting," Sarah said as she started giggling again. "I'll bet that you were adorable when you were ten. I'll admit that I could have done without the three times the proper weight on the workout machine watching you hurt yourself. I trust that won't happen again. After all, I'm still insanely protective. Anyway I want to summarize what I heard last night, just to make sure that I understand. The last thing I would want is to make you uncomfortable again."
Sarah waited until she saw him smile and nod. "You're okay with me taking charge and seducing you anytime that I see fit," she continued in faux serious. "That means any time of the day or night when the mood strikes me, any place and in any circumstance. You're okay with me picking up the pace a little. And since that is definitely going to happen, you agree that you'll let me know if and when it gets to be too much. You're even okay with me being a little creative from time to time, occasionally crossing the line into pure lust territory, as long as it's natural and doesn't appear in any way to supplant our regular love making. On those occasions either of us will feel free to bury our hands in the other's hair as circumstances dictate. You'll make an honest effort to surprise me by taking charge yourself on special occasions at your sole discretion. I'll commit to stop biting my lip and will even find a way to throw a genuine 'fuck me harder' your way every now and again. Does that about sum it up?"
Chuck couldn't keep from laughing. "I knew that you went to Harvard," he said. "I didn't realize that you went to HarvardLawSchool. I think that you basically have it correct. You're in an awful good mood considering our rather ominous current circumstance. Care to tell me why?"
"We haven't made any final decision on what we're going to do about Volkoff," Sarah reminded him. "So it's not all that ominous yet. And I find myself married to the most amazing man. Every single day I find that he is even more amazing than I thought yesterday, every single day. I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy being pampered like this. It's a new experience for me. You were totally right last night. I was used to men looking at me through the eyes of mainly lust, always looking to use me. You looking at me with respect and love, always looking out for me is going to take some getting used to. But I find that I do enjoy it… immensely. And now that I accept you papering me, it would be unsporting of you to complain when I pamper you right back. Besides, we're about to spend a week on The Enforcer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean laying in the sun during the day and dancing, drinking, and screwing all night long… by the way, not necessarily in that order. How could I not be deliriously happy? What could possibly go wrong?"
Just then Casey burst into the room. Fortunately, being deliriously happy hadn't dented Sarah's reflexes. She was mostly able to hide her naked chest by pressing it into Chuck until he could get the sheet in place. "What the hell?" she barked.
Casey wasn't at all apologetic. But he was clearly in a good mood. "Rise and shine," he said. "We're on the move. We have to be wheels up in twenty minutes. Besides, Josh was filling me in on the story of the topless beach in Hawaii. If you're going to show your tits to a whole beach full of people, why shouldn't I get a small peak? And the way you were moaning all night are you really going to try and claim to be bashful?"
"Where are we going?" Sarah asked, more to put a stop to Casey's gloating than anything.
"Back to Washington," Casey replied. "Apparently Orion has a lead on Bryce. He thinks that Bowles is with him. He's very excited. See you out front in two… clothing optional."
As soon as Casey left, Sarah turned to Chuck shaking her head. "He is getting entirely too cocky," she said.
"He was just teasing you," Chuck said. "He was being very careful to not look in your direction."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Chuck said. "But that still settles it. I am so going to walk in on him and Laura on the ship at a key point in their… activities. Is that okay? The last thing I would want is to unleash jealous Sarah."
Sarah smiled at his concern. He had already seen Laura naked. Hell, most men had. "I think it would be okay for you to get one more look at Laura's naked chest," she said. "But it's not likely to do any good with Casey. He could care less who sees her tits. On the other hand, I think that I might have a plan to run by you that will really nail him… and keep him nailed. After all, he has it coming. It's only fair."
"Good," Chuck sighed. Then he got more faux serious. "There is one more thing."
"I really, really need you to stop asking what can possibly go wrong."
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